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CNN Live At Daybreak
North Korea's Nukes: Delicate Diplomacy
Aired December 30, 2002 - 06:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: On to another tense front this morning, the growing dispute with North Korea, not a serious, but a -- not a crisis, but a serious situation -- that's the words of Secretary of State Colin Powell. He tells CNN that the U.S. has a military option, but is leading with a diplomatic option.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: What's rather interesting over the last several days is everybody is wondering why isn't the United States reaching for a gun? And the answer is, we believe that there are still options available to us that focus on political and diplomatic tools that the international community can bring to bear in this problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLAWAY: The new White House policy aimed at dealing with an increasingly defiant North Korea is called "tailored containment." It's a move to pressure the communist nation to give up its nuclear weapons program, and a key element is support from North Korea's neighbors.
And for more on that, we check in now with our Seoul bureau chief, Sohn Jie-Ae.
Sohn Jie-Ae, how effective would this so-called tailored containment be?
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN SEOUL BUREAU CHIEF: Well, South Korea's outgoing president, Kim Dae-jung, really didn't have much support for this policy today. He actually pointed out that many communist countries like Soviet Union and China, this didn't work at all.
And so, it's not going to be a policy that's going to go over that well with South Korean's leaders, and it's going to be a situation (UNINTELLIGIBLE) create a very difficult situation for South Korea's newly-elected president.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIE-AE (voice-over): South Korean President-elect Roh Moo-hyun is not known for his firsthand knowledge of global affairs. He has never even been to the United States. But if there is one thing the North Korean crisis is giving him is a crash course on the importance of international relations. It's a tough lesson for someone who rode in on the wave of nationalistic and especially anti-American sentiment. But Roh's advisors are getting ready to fan the globe, letting world leaders know that he is a man they can deal with.
Ugia Ghan (ph) will head to the most crucial ally, the United States, to send the needed message.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not anti-American, and he's a quite open-minded leader, particularly to the American (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
JIE-AE: The new president has strongly condemned North Korea's nuclear activity, and already tried to quell anti-American protests, but not with much success.
And so, the major task still remains, how to reconcile his anti- American supporters to the fact that he needs to work hand-in-hand with Washington to resolve the North Korea issue, its effect of which could be repercussions far beyond Seoul.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we go down the path of so-called tailored containment towards North Korea that includes higher economic pressures, then the key question is: When will the South Koreans and the Japanese come on board, if they do? And so, that's something that the Bush administration has to take into account, because they cannot pursue a North Korea policy and target on the basis of unilateral motivations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JIE-AE: So, there are signs that it will not be that easy to put up a united front with Washington. South Korea's newly-elected Moo- hyun also shares the views of South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, but those policies have not really been successful in the past -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: All right, Sohn Jie-Ae, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired December 30, 2002 - 06:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: On to another tense front this morning, the growing dispute with North Korea, not a serious, but a -- not a crisis, but a serious situation -- that's the words of Secretary of State Colin Powell. He tells CNN that the U.S. has a military option, but is leading with a diplomatic option.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: What's rather interesting over the last several days is everybody is wondering why isn't the United States reaching for a gun? And the answer is, we believe that there are still options available to us that focus on political and diplomatic tools that the international community can bring to bear in this problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLAWAY: The new White House policy aimed at dealing with an increasingly defiant North Korea is called "tailored containment." It's a move to pressure the communist nation to give up its nuclear weapons program, and a key element is support from North Korea's neighbors.
And for more on that, we check in now with our Seoul bureau chief, Sohn Jie-Ae.
Sohn Jie-Ae, how effective would this so-called tailored containment be?
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN SEOUL BUREAU CHIEF: Well, South Korea's outgoing president, Kim Dae-jung, really didn't have much support for this policy today. He actually pointed out that many communist countries like Soviet Union and China, this didn't work at all.
And so, it's not going to be a policy that's going to go over that well with South Korean's leaders, and it's going to be a situation (UNINTELLIGIBLE) create a very difficult situation for South Korea's newly-elected president.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIE-AE (voice-over): South Korean President-elect Roh Moo-hyun is not known for his firsthand knowledge of global affairs. He has never even been to the United States. But if there is one thing the North Korean crisis is giving him is a crash course on the importance of international relations. It's a tough lesson for someone who rode in on the wave of nationalistic and especially anti-American sentiment. But Roh's advisors are getting ready to fan the globe, letting world leaders know that he is a man they can deal with.
Ugia Ghan (ph) will head to the most crucial ally, the United States, to send the needed message.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not anti-American, and he's a quite open-minded leader, particularly to the American (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
JIE-AE: The new president has strongly condemned North Korea's nuclear activity, and already tried to quell anti-American protests, but not with much success.
And so, the major task still remains, how to reconcile his anti- American supporters to the fact that he needs to work hand-in-hand with Washington to resolve the North Korea issue, its effect of which could be repercussions far beyond Seoul.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we go down the path of so-called tailored containment towards North Korea that includes higher economic pressures, then the key question is: When will the South Koreans and the Japanese come on board, if they do? And so, that's something that the Bush administration has to take into account, because they cannot pursue a North Korea policy and target on the basis of unilateral motivations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JIE-AE: So, there are signs that it will not be that easy to put up a united front with Washington. South Korea's newly-elected Moo- hyun also shares the views of South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, but those policies have not really been successful in the past -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: All right, Sohn Jie-Ae, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
